1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a bath mat having temperature sensitive indicia formed thereon and, more particularly, to a bath mat having at least one temperature related indicia printed thereon which is visible only at selected temperature ranges.
2. Description of Related Art
Bath mats have long been commercially available. Typically, bath mats are placed in a bathtub to provide a surface to stand on when entering or leaving the tub. Most bath mats are also constructed to provide a non-slip surface, thereby decreasing the risk of injury from a slip or fall when entering or leaving the tub. While commonly recognized as a safety device which prevents injuries to adults, it is further recognized that the bath mat will also prevent infants and/or toddlers from slipping and striking the ceramic or metallic surfaces of the bathtub or its fixtures, either during the seating of the infant or toddlers in the bathtub by a supervising adult or during the bath itself. In addition to the risk of injury which may result if an infant or toddler slips in the bathtub, both infants and toddlers face a considerable risk of being scalded when placed in a bathtub filled with hot water. Quite simply, most adults are much less sensitive to hot water than infants or toddlers. As a result, bath water which may seem "warm" to an adult will readily scald an infant or toddler placed in the same water. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a device capable of measuring the temperature of bath water, particular if the device could relate the measured temperature to the correct temperatures for bathing an infant or toddler. It would also be desirable if such a device could be incorporated with other devices already in use during the bath, thereby alleviating the added confusion which would result if a device for measuring water temperatures was separately placed in the bath water. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a bath mat having temperature sensitive indicia formed thereon which relate the measured temperature of bath water to the proper temperature range for which an infant or toddler may be placed in the water without risk of injury, thereby combining the safety features of the bath mat with the additional safety considerations which result from the use of a device for measuring water temperature. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide such a bath mat.